“Now, at the local feast, there were many, many people, thick as the blades of grass on the meadows.
“Only the church was empty. They were carousing in the taverns, and had set up a great fair in the church cloisters, with drinking and lechery, and sins against God, such as do happen even in our days.
“Our Lord arrived when High Mass was over. He saw the people agitated like the corn in the breeze, and running to and fro, some striking with whips, some pulling stakes out of the fences, and others seeking for stones; and the women were screaming and rushing to scramble over the hedges, or into their carts; and the children wept.
“They all were shouting aloud: ‘Lo, a mad dog! a mad dog!’
“And through the waves of the people the dog sped on, for all made way for it to pass: so, with tongue lolling out, it darted straight towards the Lord Jesus.
“Our Lord feared it not, and He knew that it was the dog from the forest; and He doffed His capote, speaking unto the dog; and it straightway went no further.
“ ‘Come hither, Burek,’ He said; ‘here, by My side, thou shalt be safer than ever thou wast in the forest.’
“He covered it with His capote, and spread His hands out over it, and said:
“ ‘Kill it not, O men: for behold, it is a creature of God, wretched and hungry, hunted and without a master.’
“Howbeit the peasants began to cry aloud, murmuring, and striking with their staves upon the earth.
“ ‘It was a wild and savage beast; it had carried away many geese and lambs of theirs, and never ceased from doing evil. Nor did it reverence man at all, but snapped at him with its fangs, so that none could go abroad, unless he bore a stick. Wherefore it must needs be slain.’
“But Jesus waxed wroth, and cried:
“ ‘Let no one stir!—O ye drunkards, ye fear a dog, and ye fear not the Lord your God?’
“They then shrank back, for He had spoken with a mighty voice. And then He said further that they were evildoers, who had come to gain the indulgence, and did but drink in the taverns, and offend God, and repented them not; men accursed, ungodly, thieves and torturers one of another; but they should not escape the judgments of God!
“And having ended these words, the Lord Jesus took up His staff, and made as if to depart.
“But the people now knew who He was, and knelt down before Him, and cried out and wept with great lamentations, saying: ‘Abide with us, abide, O Lord Jesus! and we will be faithful unto Thee, we drunkards, we ungodly ones, we evildoers—only abide with us! Punish us, smite us, but forsake us not, helpless orphans, a masterless people!’ And they wept so sore, and begged so earnestly, kissing His sacred hands and feet, that His heart softened towards them, and He remained the space of a few prayers, teaching and shriving and blessing them all.
“And when He departed from among them, He said: ‘Hath the dog done any harm to you? Lo, it will henceforward be your servant, and watch over the geese and drive your sheep: and if one or another of you shall sleep, having drunk over much, it shall be the guardian of your little holdings, and your friend.
“ ‘Only do ye treat it with kindness, nor do it any wrong.’
“So Jesus went forth, and left them. And looking round, He saw Burek, sitting where He had stood by its side to defend it.
“ ‘Wilt thou come with Me, Burek, or abide here in thy foolishness?’
“And thereupon the dog rose up; and thenceforth it always followed Jesus, as quiet, as faithful, as watchful as the best of servants could be.
“And from that time forth, they were always together.
“And if at any time a famine came over the land, the dog would catch a small bird, or a gosling, or a lambkin; so that they both had wherewithal to live.
“Ofttimes also, when Jesus was tired, and rested Himself, Burek would drive away wicked men and evil beasts, and not let them hurt Jesus.
“But when it came to pass that the vile Jews and their cruel Pharisees seized our Lord to put Him to death, then Burek flew at them all, poor loving creature! and defended Him, using its teeth as it could.
“But Jesus, stooping beneath the Tree which He was bearing for His sacred Passion, said unto Burek:
“ ‘Thou canst do no good: and behold, their consciences will bite them deeper than thy teeth!’
“And when they hanged Him on the bitter Cross, Burek sat beside it, and did howl.
“Now, the next day, when all men had departed, and neither His blessed Mother, nor His holy Apostles were there, Burek alone abode by His side, and licked again and again the sacred dying feet of our Lord, pierced through with nails; and it howled, and howled, and howled.
“And when the third day rose, Jesus awoke from His swoon, and looked; and no one was nigh Him beside the Cross, save only Burek, whining pitifully, and fawning at His feet.
“Then did Christ Jesus, our most Holy Lord, look mercifully upon it in that hour, and say with His last dying breath:
“ ‘Come with me, Burek!’
“And the dog at that very instant did breathe its last, and follow its Lord!
“Amen.
“All this came to pass as I have said, O dearly beloved,” Roch concluded, pleasantly; and, making the sign of the cross, he passed over to the other lodgings, where Hanka had prepared him a corner to sleep in; for he was very tired.
There was dead silence through the room for a time. All were pondering over that strange fantastic story. Some of the girls—Yagna, Yuzka, and Nastka amongst them—stealthily brushed their tears away; for their emotions had been strongly excited, both by the doom of Christ, and by the part played in it by the dog Burek. Also, the very fact that there
